A Lot Can Happen In Five Years
by turbomagnus
Summary: Five years after leaving Amity Park for New York City, Danny returns for his high school reunion. The man that comes back, though, isn't the same as the boy who left. Danny x Ember
1. 1 : Amity Park 2012

Disclaimer; I don't own Danny Phantom or Ghostbusters (Real or Extreme), Butch Hartman owns DP and... I'm not really sure who owns Ghostbusters, to be honest. Well, whoever they are, they're not me. I'm not making any money off of this, I'm barely sure of where the idea came from, actually...

Author's Note: Since I never got to see the final season of Danny Phantom, including the 'Phantom Planet' series finale, for purposes of this story those episodes never happened. Specifically, Danny's identity is still secret in Amity Park (if not a certain other city).

* * *

><p>"A Lot Can Happen In Five Years"<br>by J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

><p>Amity Park,<br>New Jersey  
>2012<p>

A dark haired young man rolled over and picked up the clock beside the bed, glaring at the numbers on it. Beside him, blue-black hair framing a porcelain face, a young woman stirred and moved next to him, pressing against him from behind.

"It's time?"

He sat the clock back down, "Unfortunately. I don't know how you talked me into this."

"Yes, you do," she answered, throwing an arm over him and tracing circles on his bare chest, "It was just... like... this."

"A city full of near-sighted shoot-first maniacs who think that ghost genocide is okay as long as they call themselves 'scientists'," the man sighed, "Reunion or not, what hell dimension spawned the idea of coming back here?"

"Revenge," the woman answered, walking her fingers down his chest, "Curiosity."

As her hand reached the blanket, before it disappeared under it, she added, "And Janine threatened to lock us both in a trap with Slimer if you didn't take a vacation, Baby-Pop."

Any response he might have had was cut off by her next action.

Their arrival would be delayed.

* * *

><p>In a school gymnasium, a woman with jet-black hair and dark makeup fumed.<p>

"He's late."

A dark-skinned man shrugged, a plate of hors'd'ourves in his hand, "Probably got held up in traffic."

"Tucker!" The woman huffed, "Danny can't get held up in traffic, remember?"

Tucker popped a pig-in-a-blanket into his mouth, "Five years, things change, Sam."

Sam frowned in disgust at the sight of half-masticated pork product, "Five years and he's barely spoken to us, how can you be so calm about it?"

"It's a guy thing," Tucker admitted as he swallowed, "Lighten up, Sam, it's Danny. Even if we don't see each other every day anymore, he's still our friend."

Sam wrapped her arms around herself, "I know, I know. It's just cutting himself off like this, it's not like... Danny?"

"I know it's not what we're used to, but everyone needs some time to get used to being out of school, he's just taking a little longer than the rest of us."

"No, Tucker," Sam rolled her eyes and grabbed Tucker by the arm, turning him around to face the gym's entrance, "Danny."

Tucker's jaw dropped at the sight of his best friend in a suit and tie, shoulder-length hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, with a - dare he think it? - smoking hot woman wearing a curve-hugging single-strap dress, her long blue-black hair in a French braid, hanging on his arm.

"Oh."

* * *

><p>Smiling and nodding to old classmates that he barely recognized anymore, Danny muttered low enough for only his partner to hear, "Where's a Class VII or higher when you need one?"<p>

"Behave and smile for the fans, Danny," She answered at the same volume, adjusting her purse containing the only piece of equipment they had brought in case of emergency, "We don't know if any of them aren't living in their own little world anymore."

Danny raised his voice to return a greeting from another alumni before dropping it back down, "You can't be saying you wouldn't rather be threatening Gozer with chocolate and graham crackers than be here."

"If Kylie calls to tell us that a hundred-foot-tall marshmallow sailor is stomping down Broadway, then we can leave," She conceded, "Not before. I still don't get why you're so hung up on this."

"Do the words 'dissect the ghost-child molecule by molecule' ring a bell?"

"It's been five years, Baby-Pop."

"Right, five years hasn't changed a thing... five years of working with real scientists, of actually studying ghosts instead of just blasting them," Danny gave a quiet scoff, "Five years of dealing with a Class V Full-Roaming Vapor as a member of the team, eating habits, slime and all."

The woman with him stopped and stepped closer to whisper in his ear, "Says the Class VII Transformed Demi-Mortal?"

"Don't tease," Danny whispered back before nuzzling into her neck.

"Why don't you make me," the last word of her statement was lost as Danny claimed her mouth with his own.

* * *

><p>"Woah," Tucker gasped, "There's no fake-out in that make-out..."<p>

Something of the territorial rose up in Sam, "Just who the hell is she?"

"Who? No clue," Tucker admitted, "But I bet I can take a guess at what she is."

Sam growled, "Tucker, shut up and come on."

The resulting grabbing and pulling along about dislocated his arm as Sam dragged him off towards the kissing couple.

* * *

><p>With a soft popping sound, she pulled her lips away from her partner's, "Don't look now, Baby-Pop, but we've got a PKE spike on the Goth and the Geek."<p>

"Play nice."

"When do I not?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Please. I can show you later," She dived in to steal another quick kiss, "Maybe they won't stay long."

"Daniel Fenton!"

"Save me?" Danny whimpered as his partner pulled away again.

"Don't worry," she answered softly, "I'll protect you from the big, bad human."

"Where have you been? What have you been doing? Why haven't you called or anything? And who is she?" Sam rattled off as she released the death-grip she had on Tucker's arm.

"Geeze, Sam," Tucker complained, rubbing his bicep where he could still feel indentions from her fingers, "I've kinda got used to having two arms, you know."

"Tucker, shut up. Danny, answer the questions," Sam demanded.

Danny turned to face them, placing one hand in his pocket as the other drifted down to rest at his partner's hip, wrapping his arm around her, "Uh, New York, working, and been busy?"

Sam was about to repeat her question about the woman with Danny, but Tucker cut her off, "What kind of work keeps you that busy for five years?"

Danny shrugged, "I'm something of a freelance troubleshooter now, we handle private calls and a contract with the city."

"Who's 'we'?"

"The company I work at," Danny answered, evasively.

Tucker called him out on it, "What company?"

Another shrug, "Something of a private security firm. Does it matter?"

An elbow to the ribs and several glances of the eyes from Danny's partner got his attention.

"Oh, right," Danny nodded, "Amber, Tucker Foley and Sam Mason. Tucker, Sam, Amber..."

"Fenton," Amber finished, holding out a hand, "His wife."

The word 'wife' brought two thumps as Sam and Tucker fainted.

"Okay," Danny admitted, "That part might have been worth it."

"So, do we just leave them there or what?" Amber asked her husband.

"I'm thinking it over."

* * *

><p>Sam awoke to find herself in a chair at a table as Tucker asked a series of questions that she definately wanted to hear the answers to.<p>

"So, Amber, what do you do?"

The dark-haired woman leaned closer into her husband - Sam still couldn't believe it - as she answered, "I'm a musician, mostly small shows and the occasional concert in the Park."

"How does a 'freelance troubleshooter' meet a musician?"

Danny chuckled, "How else? Work. Someone..." he gave Amber an affectionate look, "forgot to get a permit for one of her performances while I happened to be working on our city contract. I ended up having to be the one to shut the show down... but in return I did take her out to dinner that night."

"Bite me, Dipstick," Amber retorted with a grin, causing Sam to frown.

"Maybe later, Rock Star," Danny shot back with a similar grin, showing it was just something the couple did.

Behind half-closed eyelids, Sam thought to herself that there was something strangely familar about this woman that Danny seemed to have married.


	2. 2 : Central Park 2008

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Slimer ate the disclaimer telling you that Ghostbusters is the property of Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis and Danny Phantom is the property of Butch Hartman and that I'm using them without permission or intent to profit from that usage.

* * *

><p>"A Lot Can Happen In Five Years"<br>by J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

><p>Central Park,<br>Manhattan Island, New York City  
>2008<p>

"Definately a Class VI Channelling Manipulator," A man in a wheelchair remarked, looking at a device in his hand, "My kind of challenge."

"Hold it, Garrett," a dark-haired woman wearing an armored chestpiece responded, "We need a plan."

Garrett spun his wheelchair around impatiently a couple times, "Plan, schman, Kylie, we kick ghost butt, that's plan enough for me."

"We might not have to," one of the newer team members remarked, "That's not a normal Class VI..."

Kylie looked at him curiously, "What do you mean, Danny?"

"Let's just say we go back," Danny sighed, "Let me go talk to her, first."

"Talk to her? Talk to her?" Another newer Ghostbuster that had been sent out ranted, throwing her hands up in frustration, "Why would you want to talk to her? We've got proton guns for a reason!"

Danny glanced between the tomboy and Garrett before looking at Kylie, "We're sure Garrett and Bridget aren't related?"

"You'd be surprised how often that comes up," Kylie admitted.

"Yeah. Well, if you'll excuse me..."

* * *

><p>She was actually enjoying herself, it was amazing the difference a hundred miles could make. No other Ghost Zone residents, no Red, no Fentons and no...<p>

"A little tip for next time? If you want to do this, try getting a permit first so it doesn't attract as much attention from the authorities," Danny interrupted both her thoughts and her song, actually sitting on one of her amplifiers.

'Correction, yes halfa, damn,' she thought before speaking, "I thought you quit the hero bit, Dipstick."

"Not really," Danny answered, sliding off the amp and walking up to her, ignoring the chanting of the crowd, "Just went professional."

She looked at the brown jumpsuit that had replaced the black bodysuit she was familiar with and secretly enjoyed, "You call that professional?"

"At least it's comfortable," Danny countered, "Not what I can say for a ghost trap... now, we can do this the easy way, which means you leave and go back to the Ghost Zone on your own... or we can do it the hard way."

She wasn't sure what caused her to do it, but she slung her guitar behind her and closed the distance between them, taking in the changes the last year had made to him as she pressed her body against his to whisper in his ear, "How _hard_ do you want it to get, Baby-Pop?"

'Hormones can be a bitch', Danny thought as he placed one hand on her hip to keep her from pulling away and the other behind her head to pull her in for a kiss.

'Oh, my,' she thought and whimpered as his tongue prodded her lips, insisting upon entry.

On the other side of the crowd, Garrett blinked and looked at Kylie, "Eduardo teach him that?"


	3. 3 : Casper High Gym 2012

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Slimer ate the disclaimer telling you that Ghostbusters is the property of Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis and Danny Phantom is the property of Butch Hartman and that I'm using them without permission or intent to profit from that usage.

* * *

><p>"A Lot Can Happen In Five Years"<br>by J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

><p>Casper High Gym,<br>Amity Park, New Jersey  
>2012<p>

"So we're arguing about whether or not she needs a permit for a free concert and we're getting in each other's face, finally I just snap and pull her into a kiss," Danny admitted, leaving out certain parts of the story.

Amber laughed, "After he pulled away, I didn't know whether to sue him or drag him back in for another round. Finally, I settled on making him take me out that night, starting four really wild years together."

"Especially these last two," Danny agreed.

"Yeah," Amber shook her head, "Especially them."

During the altered telling of their 'first' meeting, Sam had opened her eyes, "So, Danny, where did you say you were working that the city had you shut down an illegal concert instead of the police?"

Danny took a sip of his drink and frowned at Sam's inability to leave things alone, "I didn't. If you have to know, I work at G.B.I."

"Funny," Sam commented, "With everything my dad does on Wall Street, I've never heard of it."

"It's a small, privately owned company," Danny answered with a more pronounced frown, "What's with the questions? I didn't exactly expect an inquisition here."

"No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Tucker burst out before getting a sheepish look on his face, "Sorry, couldn't resist."

"'What's with the questions'?" Sam repeated incredulously, "How about the fact that we don't hear from you for five years then you show up acting like it was nothing, married, keeping secrets from your friends?"

The expression on Danny's face turned cold, "I'm acting like it was nothing because it _was_ nothing, because I'm not the same person who left here five years ago. I've grown up, grown out of this town, why don't you try it?"

Danny pushed his chair back and stood up, "How many times did you actually try to reach me? I wasn't exactly hiding, you know. No calls, no letters, no e-mail, nothing. What? Couldn't do anything without me starting it? Just like everyone else around here you think the 'Ghost-Child' has to do everything?"

Tucker and Sam's glances at Amber only served to infuriate Danny more, "She knows. You think I wouldn't tell _my wife_? God, how shallow are you?"

Danny turned and stalked off, muttering loud enough to be heard as he did, "I should have stayed in the city."

* * *

><p>"Hey. Thought I'd find you up here," Amber commented, sitting down on the gym roof next to her husband, "You always do like the high spots."<p>

"I'm sorry I lost my temper in there," Danny sighed.

"Please," Amber scoffed, "That's nothing compared to the last time Slimer cleaned out all the food. Never knew the onionhead could move that fast, but hey, learn something new every day."

"It's been five years and they haven't changed," Danny waved a hand, "Tucker's cool, but Sam never did know when to stop pushing."

Amber leaned against him, "And the one thing you learn living in small spaces like the Firehouse is how to give people their space."

Danny pulled her closer to him and leaned back against one of the rooftop air-conditioning units, "I'm just glad Rookie bought the apartment building next to the Firehouse - we could not fit a dozen people without it."

"And you wouldn't have the room for the other women in your life," Amber teased.

"Hey, Babe, you know there's only room for one other girl in my life," Danny countered, "She's got her mom's hair, her dad's eyes and her honorary aunts and uncles wrapped around her finger."

"You'd better believe she'd best be the only other girl in your life, buster," Amber said, poking her finger into his chest.

"'We are ready to believe you', remember?" Danny joked back.


	4. 4 : Hospital 2010

Disclaimer: Appearantly if I fail to tell you that Butch Hartman owns Danny Phantom and Harold Ramis and Dan Ackroyd own Ghostbusters, four guys in jumpsuits will come as representatives of the City, County and State of New York and order me to cease and desist and return to my home dimension or nearest convienant substitute or they'll use particle accellerators on me...

* * *

><p>"A Lot Can Happen In Five Years"<br>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

><p>Hospital delivery room<br>Manhattan Island, New York City  
>2010<p>

"Continue pushing, Amber," Egon calmly instructed, having joined the medical team for the delivery due to the unique physiology of those involved.

Amber was panting heavily and glared at the older Ghostbuster, "'Continue pushing', my ass! See how damn calm you are when I get my guitar back in my hands, Doc!"

She raised her voice loud enough to be heard outside the operating room, "Daniel-"

* * *

><p>"-James Fenton! I am going to kill you the rest of the way for doing this to me!"<p>

Danny flinched as his wife screamed, a small whimper drawing his attention to the Class III Channelling Manipulator on the floor beside him as it covered its head with thin arms and tried to draw into itself.

"Yeah," Danny admitted to the fear spirit, "You and me both, Spooky... But I'm the one who has to go in there at some point."

Spooky peeked out from under its arms and glanced a compound eye towards the delivery room in a clear message.

"Yeah, I know. Even my dark side wasn't this scary."

"DANNY!" Amber's voice hit that pitch that men across the universe recognized as 'You don't want to not come in here.'

Danny glanced down, "Can you handle yourself out here?"

Spooky looked around and gave a nervous nod before moving over under one of the chairs lining the hallway.

"Here I go," Danny took a deep breath and opened the door.

The scream from his wife that greeted him might have contained no decipherable words, but its meaning was no less understandable for their lack.

This was it, the final contractions.

"This is it, now push hard, Mrs. Fenton," the lead doctor instructed unnecessarily.

Amber snarled, "Try pushing your head out of your... Ah! Ah, ah, AH!"

The next sound to be heard were a newborn's cries as the doctor held her up, a nurse wiped her off and she was laid in her mother's arms.

"Congratulations, it's a girl - twenty-two inches, seven-and-one-half pounds, APGAR score of eight..." the doctor trailed off.

"Of course, as we have no information on any prior offspring of two Halfa, your own colorations when in a ghost-state render Apperance to be extremely subjective regarding pale or blue skin tone..." Egon picked up and continued, "And she also registers at nine point five on the Ramis-Ackroyd Scale."

Amber glanced up from staring at her new daughter to frown at Egon, "Ramses-Awkward Scale?"

"Ramis-Ackroyd," Egon corrected, "It's a measurement of a subject's sensitivity to paranormal activity. In this case, because you and Amber are both half ghost, you have a high level of sensitivity that you've passed on to your daughter."

"So, we're talking a one-to-ten scale here?" Danny asked for clarification.

"Correct. Anything above a seven means that most forms of paranormal activity registers with the person. Your own scores, in case you were wondering, are a nine for Amber and a full ten for yourself with Cindra splitting the difference, as I said, at nine-and-a-half. Simply point, there's little paranormal activity that they would be unable to detect and almost no known form of activity you wouldn't."

"Well, that sorta explains this..." Danny slowly exhaled, his breath an icy blue from the closeness of the other ghosts and halfas in the room, "But shouldn't Amber have the higher score? I mean, I went from human to halfa, she was a ghost first."

Egon tugged at his glasses uncomfortably, "I've yet to figure that out, actually."

The doctor who had performed the delivery spoke up, "Pardon me, but for the records, have you decided on a name yet?"

Danny and Amber both looked down at the little girl in her mother's arms, then up at each other.

"Yeah," Danny answered, "Yeah, I think we have..."

* * *

><p>Hospital waiting room<br>Manhattan Island, New York City  
>2010<p>

"So?" Eduardo asked as soon as Danny appeared, "What are we talking here? Boy, girl... slimer?"

"Hey!" Slimer somehow managed to make the exclamation understandable.

"It's a girl," Egon informed the gathered members of the extended Ghostbusters family as he followed Danny into the waiting room.

"And?" Janine demanded.

"And what?" Danny grinned, feeling as though nothing could bring him down from the high he was on; he had a baby girl.

Janine tilted her head down to give both Egon and Danny the 'Teacher Glare', "You know 'and what'."

"Seven-and-a-half pounds, just under two feet," Danny recited, "Nine-point-five on Doc's paranormal sensitivity test... Healthy, hungry, Halfa..."

"So, what's the little tyke's name?" Ray asked enthusiastically.

"Cindra," the new father answered,"Cindra Kylie Fenton."

"Ooh, naming it after Kylie?" Eduardo faked a wince and jerked his thumb towards the aforementioned teammate, "That's mean."

"Shut up, Eduardo," Kylie snapped at him before turning to face Danny, "Seriously, you're naming it after me? Don't take this the wrong way, Danny, but... why?"

Danny gestured to the chairs in the middle of the waiting room before walking over and taking a seat in one, Kylie followed while the rest of Ghostbusters International gathered around.

"Amber doesn't remember her family," Danny began, "And I went my seperate ways with mine when I moved here... In the last five years, you guys have become my family, our family; the stern but fair mother and absent-minded father..."

It was difficult to say who ended up blushing more at those words, Janine or Egon.

Danny nodded at the Original Ghostbusters as he continued, "...The crazy uncles, even the one no one likes to talk about..."

The finger pointed at Venkman left no doubt in anyone's mind who that remark was directed at.

"...And a lot of siblings," Danny added, meaning the Extreme and New Ghostbuster teams, "Kylie, you're like everyone's older sister, always ready with a stern or kind word, whichever's needed most at the time. Guiding us, lecturing us, leading us and saving our butts, but never babying any of us... If anything happens to us, Amber and I can't think of anyone we'd rather have looking after Cindra than you and we wanted her name to reflect that."

"Danny," Kylie shook her head, "I don't know what to say. Really."

Danny grinned, "How about 'yes' so my wife doesn't try to break my hand again when the happy-juice the doctors gave her wears off?"

* * *

><p>Author's Note; 'Ramis-Ackroyd Scale', yeah, I got a warped sense of humor sometimes.<p> 


	5. 5 : Manhattan Island 2007

Disclaimer: Sorry, the disclaimer stating that I own neither Ghostbusters or Danny Phantom is currently stuck in the Containment Unit. Slimer has been sent in to retrieve it, but we don't know how long that will take. Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

><p>"A Lot Can Happen In Five Years"<br>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

* * *

><p>Rooftop, Casper High Gym,<br>Amity Park, New Jersey  
>2012<p>

"Speaking of our daughter," Danny suddenly remarked, "How do you think they're doing babysitting? Think they've gone crazy yet?"

Amber looked at him with an amused expression on her face, "Baby-pop, you think they weren't already crazy?"

"Yeah," Danny chuckled, "I guess for Ghostbusting that old joke is the truth; you don't have to be crazy, but it helps. So, that still doesn't answer who you think's going to crack first. Eduardo?"

"Eduardo," his wife agreed, "He's already done for if that little pal of yours decided to help."

"Hey! Spooky's okay," Danny replied defensively, "He's just..."

"He's just a frightening mix of people-shy and trigger-happy," Amber interrupted, "And the frightening part wasn't meant to be a joke, either."

* * *

><p>Manhattan Island, New York City<br>2007

"I thought we issued a warning about this place," Eduardo remarked as he, Kylie and Gabriel geared up, while once again he was mentally hating the fact that Danny didn't have to carry any extra equipment, just because he was half-ghost.

"Not everybody listens to warnings," Kylie answered, "Everyone ready?"

"Hey, uh, if I say 'no', I can go home, right?" Eduardo asked.

"You say 'no' and I let Danny drop you in the river," the goth team leader countered.

"Oh, I'd do it, too," the halfa announced with a grin, sticking a finger into the air as though to test the wind.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, "Come on, you two, cut him some slack."

"Sure, why not?" Danny shrugged, "Slack for the slacker."

"Hey!" Eduardo retorted, offended, "It ain't easy being a slacker, 'specially in this line of work."

"So, why are you still here, again?" Kylie asked.

"Because he lo-" Eduardo's hand was clapped over Danny's mouth, cutting him off mid-word.

"Hey. You want to be all-ghost?" the older Ghostbuster asked, "No? You don't talk like that, okay?"

Kylie frowned, "Talk like what?"

"Oh, nothing," Eduardo gave an exaggerated shrug, causing Danny to shake his head as he pulled away from the other Ghostbuster.

'Can they really be this oblivious to each other for this long?' He mouthed at Gabriel.

'Looks like it,' Gabriel mouthed back.

"Obvious about what?" Kylie asked, having read their lips.

"Oh, nothing," Gabriel and Danny answered together, echoing Eduardo's earlier words.

"Anyway," Kylie continued, giving the two a suspicious look, "We've been here before, so at least we have an idea of what we're dealing with; Class III Channelling Manipulator."

"That means," Gabriel picked up, "That it draws power from us and can manipulate us into having reactions to it that increase its power."

"Sounds like a girl I knew in High School," Danny observed.

"Man, everything reminds you of something. You're like an old guy in a young guy's body," Eduardo took the liberty of informing the halfa.

"Come on, Eduardo," Kylie grabbed him by the back of his vest and started pulling him towards the door, "No distracting the rest of us so you can get out of it."

"Hey, come on, can't I at least cover the outside or something, just in case it tries to escape?"

"No," Three voices answered as one.

"Had to try," Eduardo shrugged.

* * *

><p>Ghostbusters Headquarters<br>'The Firehouse'  
>Manhattan Island, New York City<br>2007

Egon shook his head, "Hopefully, this will be the last call to that location for the foreseeable future. I'm glad you were able to connect with the entity there on a personal level, Danny, it provides an interesting look into an alternate method of Ghostbusting. The case file is certain to be interesting reading when you've all finished the paperwork. Good job, team."

"Well, there is one other thing, Doc..." Danny trailed off.

Egon adjusted his glasses, "How much will the fines be, dare I ask?"

"Nothing like that," Danny answered, waving his hand, then he couldn't resist, "'Say hello to my little friend'."

Danny reached over to Gabriel's Proton Pack and opened the small storage compartment on it, allowing a small insectoid figure to come tumbling out with a squeak of surprise.

"Aw, man," Eduardo groaned, "Why you gotta be bringing home more ghosts?"

"Eduardo, we have a containment unit in the basement that's evolved into a complete pocket dimension from the sheer amount of PK energy from the ghosts inside of it, why are you complaining about having one more ghost around?"

"Because, Kylie, they're trapped, this one's running free."

Garrett took a large bite of his candy bar and added as he chewed, "He's afraid he's going to see himself as a zombie again."

"Oh, like you're one to talk, huh, 'Fearless'?"

"Hey, some people got it," Garrett shrugged.

"Hey, Danny, what are you afraid of?" Kylie spoke up, "Come on, what did you see?"

Closing his eyes, Danny sighed, "A reflection, Kylie... a reflection."


	6. Sidestory : Manhattan Island 1991

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. Whether or not that goal can be reached, we'll see... This is The 365 Project, 13 January.

Disclaimer: "The Real Ghostbusters" and "Extreme Ghostbusters" are the creation and property of Harold Ramis, Dan Ackroyd, etc. and are used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

A 'Five Years' side-story. The ending of an era. What brought about the end of the original Ghostbusters and why does Egon carry such guilt over it?

* * *

><p>"A Lot Can Happen in Five Years<br>'Backfired: New York City, 1991'  
>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'<p>

* * *

><p>Ghostbusters Headquarters<br>'The Firehouse'  
>Manhattan Island, New York City<br>1997

He had lied to his students, he didn't just stay at the Firehouse to maintain the Containment Unit; he stayed as penance, every day in the empty building a reminder of his presumption and resulting mistake. His logic had been sound, but he had forgotten to take the human element into account for his equations.

Doctor Egon Spengler ran his fingers across the outside of the Containment Unit, remembering how it had gotten every pit and ding in its casing from incidents throughout the years, remember how he had lost what he had been trying to save.

* * *

><p>Ghostbusters Headquarters<br>'The Firehouse'  
>Manhattan Island, New York City<br>1991

Doctor Pete Venkman slammed his hands palms-flat on the table, "I'm telling you guys, it's the perfect opportunity for expansion; we're a household name again, recruits will be lining up no matter where we open."

Winston Zeddemore, whose Doctorate in Ancient History was still less than two years old, sighed, "We've been over this, Pete; just because Rookie's going solo down south doesn't mean we should all go out on our own for a while. It'd be just our luck to do that and everything go quiet."

"You've got a point about things maybe getting quiet, Winston," Doctor Ray Stantz countered, "But Peter also has a point; I mean, think of the supernatural hotspots we could study. Rookie's already planning to open up in New Orleans, but there's still Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Saint Augustine, Savannah."

"Hey, I'm always up for sunny Florida," Venkman jumped in with a shrug.

"But think about the costs, Venkman... Facilities, equipment, training new recruits," Winston had been ticking them off on his fingers and here he shook his head, "We're lucky Rookie picked up the job as fast as he did, we can't be sure lightning will strike twice with someone else. What do you think, Egon?"

Egon looked up from his computer, "Technically, the ionisation of the atmosphere from a lightning strike creates a pathway for subsequent lightning to follow - it's actually quite common for lightning to strike the same area repeatedly."

"I meant about this whole 'franchise', 'corporate store', going global idea that Pete's got," Winston reminded him.

"Well," Egon replied, "While the theory is sound and it is proper scientific practice to get a sampling of data from a larger area after an initial smaller sampling prove valuable, I agree that we're not in a position to expand at the moment. Among other reasons, supplying four additional locations including New Orleans with Containment Units, as well as creating proton packs to equip at least fifteen to twenty new recruits would strain our resources to a dangerous point."

"Two and two," Ray commented, "I guess we go to the tie-breaker."

Winston nodded, "I guess we do."

"Yep," Venkman agreed, getting up from the table and walking over to the hole where the pole led downstairs, "Janine!"

"Whattaya want?" the Brooklyn-native's voice came back upstairs.

"How would you feel about being the Chief of Operations for a large multi-franchise Ghostbusting conglomerate?" Venkman asked through the hole, causing the other three to exchange a look.

"How about not?" Janine called back, "I already said I'm not shleping out to Jersey, Westchester, Long Island or anywhere else when some idiot can't figure out how to work the coffee machine!"

"That's a no," Ray commented, looking at Winston and nodding.

Winston nodded back, "That's a no."

* * *

><p>Ghostbusters Headquarters<br>'The Firehouse'  
>Manhattan Island, New York City<br>1991

"Venkman!" Winston shouted loud enough to echo in the Firehouse as he stormed in through the front door and across the garage floor, "What is this supposed to be?"

Winston's shout had summoned Ray from upstairs making a list of new books on the paranormal and supernatural that they needed and Egon from the basement where he had been working on the Containment Unit and they both reached the ground floor at roughly the same time; the same time that Winston slapped the newspaper he was carrying down onto Janine's desk. Ray and Egon exchanged a look before they walked over and looked down at the newspaper. Since the last member of their team was taking their time, the two of them saw fit to repeat the request for his presence.

"Peter!"

"Venkman!"

Wincing and rolling her eyes at the shouting, Janine turned the paper around and smoothed it out so that she could read the ad that Winston had circled; it had their 'no ghosts' symbol and phone number, and underneath it in bold font it had printed 'Start your own Ghostbusters! Franchises now available.'

"Venkman!" Janine shouted

Finally, Venkman came out from the back area of the ground floor, stretching his arms and smacking his lips, "What is it, you guys? I was having this wonderful dream involving hunting ghosts in Hawaii; Dana was wearing nothing but a proton pack and a bikini - I never thought the packs could look so good, really."

"What is _this _supposed to be?" Winston repeated, tapping the ad, "I thought we voted 'no', three to two."

"I know we had a _preliminary_ no," Venkman answered, "But I thought we should at least see what kind of interest there'd be in the idea before we commited ourselves to a _firm_ no or anything."

The glares from Egon, Janine and Winston indicated that might not have been the best answer.

"How much did this ad of your's cost us, Peter?" Winston wanted to know.

"Oh, you know..." Peter drew out.

"How much, Peter?" Egon repeated the question.

"Well, size, color, how long for it to run," Peter then got to the point, "About two."

"Two hundred bucks?" Ray was stunned.

"No, two thousand including the full-color, full-page ad for the Sunday paper," Peter answered.

"You spent two grand on newspaper ads for something we didn't want to do? Peter!" Winston was fuming at this point, "I can't believe you did this!"

"I'm disappointed in you, Peter," Egon adjusted his glasses, "This will reflect badly on us if anyone does call regarding the advertisment and has to be informed that it was printed in error and there are no franchises."

"I don't know you guys," Ray said in a concilatory tone, "I don't like the fact that Peter went behind out backs to take out these ads, but since it's being advertised anyway, we might as well go for it."

"Aw, no, no, no, no, no," Winston was waving his hands with each repetition of the word, "We're not going to 'go fot it'. I'm definately not going to 'go for it'. If we 'go for it' this time, what happens next time we decide against something that Peter wants? He does it behind our backs again and do we 'go for it' that time too? Where would it stop, huh?"

* * *

><p>Ghostbusters Headquarters<br>'The Firehouse'  
>Manhattan Island, New York City<br>1992

The last few months had been the worst in Ghostbusters history; even worse than the period of time in which the city of New York had banned all paranormal investigation and ghostbusting activity. At least then, they had each other to turn to through it all. Ever since the advertisment incident, there had been clear lines of demarcation within the team; Egon himself had always been a little detached, but Venkman and Winston were almost at each others throats at times and it seemed as though Ray was never quite sure whether to play peacemaker or take sides - and even then, whose side to take. If something wasn't done soon, the damage to the group would be irreperable, so Egon had reached a logical conclusion; to resolve a conflict, remove the source of the conflict. Following on from that conclusion, Egon had gone down to City Hall earlier that day and canceled the business license for 'Ghostbusters Incorporated'. As far as he could see, nothing would have to change; they would still be able to help people and investigate the paranormal, they simply would no longer do so as a business entity. No business, no need for franchises or investments or anything of that sort, meaning none of the resulting conflict. As soon as he made the announcement over dinner, he discovered that his conclusion was erroneous.

"What? I can't believe this, Egon!" Winston snapped, "I thought we just dealt with one of us going behind everyone else's back and now you go and do this?"

"Let's see, you were 'disappointed' in me for not telling anyone about the ads," Peter pointed out, "Now you've gone and done something that affects the rest of us without telling anyone... you know what that makes you, Egon? A hypocrite. What, is this revenge? You didn't like the idea of franchising from the beginning, so now you've gone and made sure it can't happen?"

Ray just shook his head and stood up from the table, headed for the bedroom.

"Yeah, me too," Peter pushed his chair back, "I guess I better go start _job-hunting_ since none of us _have one anymore_."

* * *

><p>The Firehouse<br>Manhattan Island, New York City  
>1992<p>

Less than a month later, there were only two men left at what had once been Ghostbusters Headquarters and one of them was about to leave, but he had one thing left to do.

"I mean, I don't like it, but I can kinda understand why you did it, Egon," Ray held out an envelope to his former teammate, "Here, it's the deed to the Firehouse. You keep it. All it needs is your signature and you can file it down at City Hall. I can't see you leaving the place or the Containment Unit anyway, so you might as well have it."

* * *

><p>Ghostbusters Headquarters<br>'The Firehouse'  
>Manhattan Island, New York City<br>1997

Egon turned away from the Containment Unit and walked up the stairs back to the ground floor, making sure to close the door behind him. Now, at least, he had a new way to pay penance for his actions; by keeping these Ghostbusters from making the same mistakes that he had.


	7. Sidestory : Amity Park 2007

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 22 May.

Inspired by having to attend a relative's graduation ceremony today...

Disclaimer; I don't own Danny Phantom or Ghostbusters (Real or Extreme), Butch Hartman owns DP and... I'm not really sure who owns Ghostbusters, to be honest. Well, whoever they are, they're not me. I'm not making any money off of this, I'm barely sure of where the idea came from, actually...

A 'Five Years' side-story.

* * *

><p>-o0O0o-<p>

"A Lot Can Happen in Five Years"  
>'Commencement; Amity Park, Spring 2007'<br>By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

><p>Casper High School,<br>Amity Park, New Jersey,  
>Spring 2007<p>

He'd come to a startling conclusion; waiting was waiting and waiting was dreadful, no matter what someone was waiting for. Waiting for his name to be called was hard enough, Fenton came early enough in the alphabet that it wasn't a long wait; but now, he was waiting on the last name to be called so that the stupid ceremony would finally be over. As soon as it was over, Danny Fenton wouldn't just be done with Casper High, he planned to be getting out of Amity Park as well. The last shred of doubt that he was doing the right thing by leaving had vanished about the same time as 'Exil, N.' walked across the stage to recieve their diploma and a ghost had swooped down and snatched it from them.

It had even shouted about how no one expects the Inquisition; good pop-culture knowledge, even if it wasn't any ghost Danny was actually personally familiar with. Of course, instead of being able to let it go for _one day_, one of the biggest days in their only son's _life,_ his parents had immediately started shouting about ghosts, taking shots at it over people's heads and chasing it as it flew away... leaving Danny standing in line watching as his own parents basically made a mockery of his graduation and proved once and for all that their ghost hunting and theories would always be more important to them than their relatives - relatives, because they certainly weren't a family. His friends were his real family, and he'd miss them. He'd miss Tucker and Sam, Jazz... he'd even miss Johnny and their rivalry, Kitty - his non-psycho-analysing sister - and Cujo - who had chased off after Dani last time he'd seen either of them - but Danny had a feeling that he needed to do this, get out of Amity Park, start over again some place else... someplace where the name 'Fenton' wasn't automatically associated with his parents and their antics.

Quietly to himself, so no one else could hear, Danny started humming...

'They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway...'


End file.
